This is sparkly well polished cafe music. Don't get me wrong, when I say "sparkly" I don't mean happy go lucky. The lyrics are full of enough angst and sensitivity to win Mr. Scisco an adoring, "heart on their sleeves" audience. Instead, when I say "sparkly" I mean it's full of catchy layered instrumentation simple enough to highlight a solid Folk-Rock voice and varied enough to make each song feel new. I am a lyric child myself, so I always enjoy being able to clearly understand where a singer/songwriter is going in a song. This music has no trouble remaining clear (easier to sing-a-long with in the car).

Song 1, You And I Begin, starts the album off strong with a melodic soul felt confession. Scisco writes, "with it's big dirty boots / the truth came and sat next to me / he said run before it's too late to see". Delivered raw with Scisco and an acoustic guitar this is exactly the type of narrative based song writing creeping into mainstream and pop music charts.

Song 2, Giving You Away, keeps the trend going, slightly picking up the pace while adding texture.

Song 5, How To Hold You, is a visual up-beat song sweetened by a slide guitar with lyrics like, "far into the neon stream / of a down town lullaby / I held an angel by the hand / children in a candy store / in a fun house mirror / careening on the tune of a pocket radio". This song is a fun song to dance around your living room to.

The CD does lull a bit around songs 8, 9, and 10, but that's why they put those songs there. Fear not, because it does pick it up in time to catch you at the end.

If you enjoy discovering an artist, to casually expose to your friends while they doubt on your ability to find their next favorite album (before they hear it on One Tree Hill), Andy Scisco's The Sky Between Us will not disappoint you. Enjoy!

The Levee Breaking is an Associated Program of Shunpike.
Shunpike is a 501(c)(3) non-profit art service organization whose mission is to strengthen the Seattle arts community by partnering with small and mid-size arts groups to develop the business tools they need to succeed. Working in close partnership with these groups, Shunpike helps solve problems quickly and impart vital skills in finance, organizational management and arts administration.